Stuck In The Paradox
by AmbroseAlleyTho
Summary: Cassandra was just a normal teenage girl from Norwich, England, who had to move to US for her mother to land the dream job she always wanted; to be a personal trainer. Cassandra; AKA Cassie; always thought that was an odd dream, until she meets the guy that changed her life.
1. Goodbye, Homeland

Cassandra was laying on her bed; hoping and praying that it was all a dream. She didn't want to leave her friends behind to go to Us, but she had to. The only good thing is she'd get to meet someone from a penpal assignment she had earlier that year for class.

"Cassie, hun. You need to pack your things up. We leave tomorrow."  
"I know, mum. I'm still trying to process this all."  
"You have all day today to say goodbye to your mates. Also, get out of the habit of calling me 'mum.' When we get to America, you must call me 'mom'." Cassandra walked out into the kitchen.  
"Isn't that pretty much the same thing?"  
"It sounds different."  
"Whatever."

Cassie grabbed her bag, phone and headphones while walking out of the house. It was late August, and American school hadn't started yet. That made it a perfect time to leave. As she arrived to school, several different people, those whom she did and did not know, greeted Cassie. One was a girl she hated.

"Little, little Cassandra. Have fun in America, that's where all the ignorant, dumbasses are. You'll fit in perfectly there." She smirk as Cassandra dropped her head.

Cassie is a shy type, so when she opened her mouth, it was to surrender, except in this case.

"Hey, Hannah.."  
"What, Cassie?" Cassie looked her straight in the eye and cleared her throat.  
"Don't you have a teacher to go blow? Y'know, so you'll actually pass this grade." Cassie smirked slightly, but kept it hidden.  
"You think you're so funny and tough because of that, Love?"  
"No, I don't think that at all. I think, and know, I'm funny because I have a lot of friends that tell me so. I think, and hope, I'm tough because of this."

In a blink of an eye, Cassie was attacking Hannah like she had nothing to lose. It was her last day, so she kinda had nothing to lose. After she thought Hannah had enough, she got up and fixed her clothes then let out a deep breath.

"How's that for tough?"

That day had been great, she got to see her friends for the last time, plus she got to see her favorite teacher for the very last time.

"It sucks you have to leave Norwich, Cassandra. You were my favorite student."  
"Don't worry Mr. L. I'll come back as soon as I can."  
"Try not to get stuck in the paradox of US."

She got to see Hannah be put in her place for the first time! No one dared to try it, but Cassie had had enough. Of course she got in trouble, but not as much as anyone else would've. The school really couldn't do anything but pass her by.

When she got out of school, the first person she texted was Alexa, her penpal from US. They knew each other, via letters, for almost 2 years. Since Alexa was 13 and Cassie was 14, they had a bond that felt closer than anything. Now, they'll be living in the same country!

"Cassie, how was school?"  
"Perfect. Just amazingly perfect."  
"That's great. Are you ready for the biggest change of your life?"  
"Physically, yes. Mentally, not even close. Mum, I have a question."  
"Yes, love?"  
"What does it mean to get stuck in a paradox?"  
"Depending on the way it is used, it could mean that you see the fantasy of something, then when you love that fantasy, the ending changes."  
"So that's what he meant."  
"Who?"  
"Mr. L. I told him I'd come back to see him, and he told me not to get stuck in a paradox."  
"Don't worry, love. We'll come back."

Cassie fell asleep for a few hours in the living room, for everything in her room had been taken out, before her alarm went off at 1 am. She looked at the clock and to her surprise, she actually felt really happy.

"Time to fly." She whispered to herself.

She got up and grabbed all her stuff; a few bags, her clock, and other valuable items. She looked around the room then she proceeded to look into her old room, at the bare walls and everything.

About an hour after she was in a plane, flying over her homeland. She waved at the passing ground as it turned to a miniature land. Cassie sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She quickly fell asleep and it felt like a matter of minutes before she was awoken.

"Cassandra? Wake up, love."  
"Wha-.. huh?" As she opened her eyes, she quickly had to shield them.

When she exited the plane, she was still a little tired but when she saw her surroundings she was instantly curious. Her mom looked at her as Cassie looked around in slight amazement.

"Welcome to our new home, Cass."  
"What's the name of this place again?"  
"Ohio. Cincinnati, Ohio."

As they were making their way to their apartment, Cassandra decided to text Alexa.

"Hey, are you busy or something?"  
"Nah, I'm just listening to music. What are you up to?"  
"I'm making my way to my house."  
"Oh, cool."  
"I have a question. Why haven't you ever told me where you live, or at least sent me a photo or something?"  
"Well, I don't know you all that well, and I don't want you to know where I live. I don't send pictures because I'm not pretty."

Cassie put down her phone when the car that her mom and her were in gradually halted. She got close to the window and stared up at the building. She looked at her mom who nodded to say 'This is our home,' and as soon as Cassie saw that she got out. She was excited to be there, but sad as well.

As her mom and her made their way to the apartment, Cassandra's mom was greeted by a man. Cassie retreated behind her mother for a few seconds before stepping into the apartment where they would be living. She knew that someone was there before Cassie got there, but she couldn't tell who, until the cleared their throat, which made her jump.

"Hah', we got a jumper."  
"Who are you and why are you in my apartment?"  
"Name's Sam. I'm here because my dad dragged me along. What's your name, kid?"  
"Kid? My name is Cassandra, don't call me 'kid'."  
"Sorry, but I'm not sorry. That's quite an annoying accent you got there, where are you from?"  
"Norwich."  
"England? Well, well, well! We have a British kid here. My friend and I hate British people."  
"I prefer English."  
"I don't care what you prefer. Look, I have to go and find my lost cause of a friend."

Cassie stepped aside and looked at the door.

"No one is stopping you."

As he was leaving, he glared at her and at that moment, she knew that he'd cause trouble for her. 


	2. First Day

A few weeks later, after Cassie met a couple of her class mates and settled in her new home, school began. She didn't know what to expect, except a lot of stares, and questions but minimal socializing. Cassie's mom dropped her off at school, and the first person she saw was Sam, which she found out everyone calls Sami.

"Hey, Short-Stuff. Come here." Cassandra was hoping he wouldn't notice her. She slunk over to where Sami was standing with his friend.  
"What do you want, Sam?"  
"Your mom and my dad made a plan to have me watch you in the mornings and after school." Both Cassandra and Sami's friend scoffed at the same time.  
"How are you supposed to watch me, when I'm older than you? Hm?"  
"Y'know, Sami could just not help you and watch you get eaten alive at this school." Sami's friend had said, mocking Cassie's accent. Cassie looked him straight in the eye.  
"What's your name?"  
"Jon."  
"Hi, Jon. Can you do me a favor and shut the hell up?!" Jon smirked then whispered to Sami.  
"I like this girl."

The bell rang and Cassie walked into the school followed by Sami and Jon. She was greeted by the principle who showed her to her locker. After she put all her stuff into her locker, she walked into her homeroom. She sat in a seat and started to read a book, while she heard hushed whispering. She looked around the room, and she saw some people staring at her. Cassie was expecting it so she sat back in her seat, and seeing that the teacher wasn't in the room yet, she spoke.

"Is there something interesting about me?" As couple of the teens looked among each other, until one spoke.  
"No offense or anything, but you seem too much of a classy woman to be in a scrappy town like Cincinnati." Suddenly everyone became hushed again and they all minded their own business.

She was confused, until she felt someone put their hands on her shoulders.

"You should her the mouth on this little girl, then you'll realize she'll fit in great." It was Jon. She removed his hand from her shoulder as he took the seat next to her and relaxed. She looked around the room at everyone who seemed like stone. Then she whispered to Jon.

"Why do they all like scared?"  
"'Cause they are."  
"Why?"  
"Me. I've had a past memory with almost everyone in this school, and so has Sami. To be honest, I'm actually surprised I'm not dead or in prison right now."  
"That doesn't sound good.."

The teacher walked in.

"Ah, Miss..."  
"Snow. Cassandra Snow." Jon snickered at her last name.  
"Miss Snow, if you don't mind, I'm going to move you up to the front of the room."  
"I'm not exactly going to protest, but why." The whole class was listening to the conversation and multiple students, including the teacher, stared at Jon. Cassandra turned around to see he has a sinister smirk. Then she smiled at him.  
"Don't worry about him. He wouldn't dare touch me if he knows what is good for him." She saw his sinister smirk turn into a smirk of disbelief.

When Cassie turned back around, even the teacher was shocked. Cassie just continued to read her book and a couple of the students were still in awe.

Throughout the day, Cassie went about her own business, just trying to make it through the first day. She knew there was going to be some ups and downs to that day, but she wasn't expecting what she got. Cassie was in lunch, trying to find somewhere to sit, when she saw an open spot, so she sat at a table, alone. She wasn't alone for long.  
An unfamiliar voice started talking to her.

"Hello.." Cassie looked up at the girl.  
"Hi.." "What are you doing sitting here?"  
"Eating, like normal people would during lunch." Another person, a larger male, followed the girl.  
"You're new here, and you must not know that this table that you're sitting at, is claimed."  
"By?"  
"Us."  
"I don't see your names anywhere on the table." "Don't get cocky." The girl barked as she smacked her gum.  
"It's the first day of school, can't I just sit here..?"  
"We aren't going to let some.. What do you call sluts in England?"  
"Slag?"  
"Right, we aren't going to let some low class slag sit here and contaminate the table. Bye now!"

Cassandra waited a few seconds before standing up and moving to a different table. This time, she made sure she'd be truly alone. After all that transpired that day, she was glad when she could finally go home.

"How was your first day, Cassandra?"  
"Good, for the most part but I'm never going back there." Cassie chuckled.  
"Who do I need to beat up?" She smirked and they both laughed.  
"Just this group of kids. I don't know what grade they're in, but they seem younger than me."  
"You're fourteen, going on 15 next month. I'm pretty sure they're older than you. What's the problem there?"  
"They pretty much kicked me to another table in lunch today."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know, supposably they claim that table or something."  
"Well then. Just so you know, I have to go in a few minutes. I start my dream tonight and nothing is going to stop me."

Just as she said that, they heard a loud knock on the door. Cassie looked at her mom, who shot her eyes right down to her purse. Cassie whispered,

"Who's that?" Her mom looked at her with loving eyes and laughed nervously.  
"There might be a slight possibility that I might have... Uh.. Paid two people to watch you.." She nervously laughed again.  
"You what?! Mum, I'm 14! I shouldn't have a babysitter!"  
"Cass', you're still not used to this town or it's people." She walked towards the door.  
"I want you to be safe."  
"Who did you 'hire'?"  
"I didn't exactly hire him, he's dad volunteered him, and he brought along his friend." "Mom! I HATE YOU!" She walked into the livingroom.

Her mom opened the door, and there stood the two guys that show the biggest problem for her.

Sami and Jon. 


	3. Danger

After Cassie's mom left, Cassie retreated into the living room. She stayed quiet as she listened to Sami and Jon talk about school, and she just kept to herself.

"Sami, you should have seen what happened in homeroom today. Little Miss British over there 'put me in my place,' or so she thought." Cassie turned around and smirked.  
"I just told them the truth!" Sami was confused.  
"Cass' here decided it'd be a good idea to say that she could handle me if I tried anything with her. I'm pretty sure that she even scared the teacher."  
"Wow, Cassie. You've had a tough day, I guess." Cassie was too busy texting Alexa to pay attention. Sami started rambling again.  
"All I saw was the little predicament in lunch today." Cassie turned around once again.  
"What?! How?"  
"Jon and I were there."  
"Where? I didn't see you two."  
"Good, we were planning on you not to."  
"Okay.. Do you know who they were?"  
"Yeah. That was Mark." "And the girl?" Jon and Sami exchanged looks, then Jon spoke.  
"Her name's Lexi'. She's the school slut."  
"Shut up, Jon. She isn't a slut."  
"Am I missing something here?"  
"Yeah, that Sami's girlfriend. They skipped 8th grade together."  
"Ooooh, Sami! You have a girlie friend?"  
"Shut up. It's not a big deal." Jon smirked.  
"Wow. Well, you guys don't have to worry about me." "Why?"  
"'Cause.. I'm not going anymore. No matter what my mom says.." Cassie looked back at her phone and continued texting Alexa, until she heard another knock on the door.

Cassie got up and opened the door to see the girl that kicked her from the table earlier.

"What are you doing here, Lexi'?"  
"Sami's dad said I could find him here." She looked down at her phone and started texting.  
"Well, do you want to talk to Sami, or continue texting whoever?" Cassie had get a text so she looked at her phone.

'Hang on, I'm trying to get past this dumb bitch to speak to my boyfriend.'

Cassie was slightly confused. Then she finally figured it out and texted Alexa back.

"Hey... Alexa. Next time you're going to call me a dumb bitch, actually look at me and say it."

Alexa, or as she likes to be called Lexi', shot her eyes up to met Cassandra's. She then covered her mouth. Sami and Jon were confused.

"What's going on here?" Sami cautiously asked.  
"Remember how I kept telling you about that girl I did that penpal activity with? It's Cassie.."  
"Welcome to my house, Lexi'.." Alexa walked into the apartment and put her phone down on the counter then looked at Sami.  
"Why are you here?"  
"I wanted to talk to you, why are you here?"  
"Doesn't matter." Cassie was kinda giggling to herself without anyone noticing.

Sami and Alexa were talking while Cassie laid on the living room floor and Jon did whatever he was doing for a couple hours before Alexa left. Cassie looked at her watch which read '12:13'.

Cassie stood up and paced around the room. Jon could see something was up.

"What's wrong, kid?"  
"My mom was supposed to be home hours ago."  
"Maybe she got caught in traffic."  
"For 4 hours?!"  
"Calm down."

Cassie took a deep breath and stopped pacing. All of a sudden she felt a sharp pain in her stomach which made her collapse on the floor. After she found the strength to stand up, Jon walked in.

"You okay, Cass'?"  
"Yeah, it's just I have a really, really, really bad sharp pain in my stomach."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know.."

The house phone started ringing and Sami answered it, since Jon and Cassie were too busy trying to figure out what happened. Sami was on that phone, silently, just listening for what seem like hours. After he hung the phone up, he asked Jon to join him in another room, because they needed to talk. Cassie laid on the floor, trying to make the pain go away, and she curiously wondered what was going on. She sat up when she saw both Jon and Sami walk in the room, staring at her.

"What..?"  
"I don't know how to say it without hurting you." Sami explained as Cassandra chuckled a little.  
"Nothing could hurt me more than this pain." Jon scoffed.  
"You stupid little girl."  
"Don't call me stupid, I know it has to do with my mom. Tell me what happened."  
"I'll be the heartless one and say it; she's dead. Some idiot hit her on the way home from her job and part of the metal from the truck impaled her straight through her stomach. Sorry, kid."

Jon left and slammed the door behind himself. That hit her like a boulder, but her expression stayed neutral. The pain went away in her stomach. It all made sense.

The night her dad died, he was shot down at his job because he was a police officer, he got shot in the chest. When that happened, Cassie felt a horrible chest pain until her and her mom knew what happened.

She sat there, staring blankly at the wall for an hour.

"Why did Jon storm out like that?"  
"'Cau-.. I don't know.." Cassie looked down and quietly whispered,  
"Get out.."  
"What?"  
"Get out! Get out, now!" Sami slowly walked out of the apartment. Cassie was furious. With herself, with the idiot that hit her mom, and Jon for storming out like that, at everything.

That's not what Cassie expected for her first day. She sat in her living room for hours speechless, emotionless, lifeless. She was recalling everything that happened that day. The last words she said to her mom were, "I hate you," and that hurt her worse than anything..

She knew what she had to do.

The only thing she could do.

Nothing..

{Hey guys, so this was kinda sad. Anyway, sorry I haven't updated for a few days, medical reasons. I'm starting to get writers block, so if anyone has any ideas of what to do for this story, tell me. Hope you've enjoyed it so far, and will enjoy the rest. Thank you for reading.} 


	4. Fear

Cassie didn't go to school the next few weeks, people were doubting if she'd come back at all. She hadn't seen or talked to anyone since her mothers death, and she didn't know if she wanted to go to the funeral Cassie's family in US had set up.

As Cassie was laying in her mom's room, well her old room, she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" There was no reply to her question, only louder banging on the door.

Cassie got up and opened the door to find Jonathan and Sami leaning against the doorway. They exchanged glances then Jon walked in, followed by Sami.

"What do you want?"  
"Nice to see yo-" Jon smirked as he got cut off.  
"What the hell do you want?!"  
"Sami told me to come. Said he needs to talk to you about something before we left for Hell, also known as school."  
"You're here, why?"  
"It involves me too." "Get out. Get out now and don't come back."  
"Hey now, let's be friendly here." Sami tried to make peace.  
"Fuck off Sami, fuck you both." They both looked very shocked.  
"Get out of here, now." Cassie glared at them both as she walked to the bedroom door and slammed it shut.

She tried to lay down and fall asleep when she heard them leave, but she couldn't. As she stood up to exit the room, she sighed. She left the room and walked around, with her cell phone in her hand. She was looking at the newly hung photos of her mom, her dad, and herself. She stared at the one of her mom and her at her dad's funeral. She felt a tear run down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away when she remembered something her father left to her. Cassie's mom never knew about it, but when Cassie was just 10 years old, her dad taught her to shoot a gun and gave her a gun of her own. She went to her room and took out the gun. It was a beautiful Airsoft gun. When she first got it, with the name Airsoft, she thought it was a nice, non-violent gun.

Man, was she wrong!

She was smiling at the memories of her dad teaching her to shoot. She was so lost in memory that she didn't hear someone walk into the apartment.

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do with that, are you?" She jumped a little at the sound of the voice.  
"What do you think in going to do?" She turned around.  
"You think I'm going to suicide?" He shrugged.  
"You don't have your shoes on. Don't people in foreign countries do that before they commit suicide?"  
"Jon, that's common in Japan, not England."  
"Same difference."  
"Not at all. I'm not even thinking about suicide. That'd be stupid."  
"Really?"  
"I don't mean that suicide is stupid. What I mean is, it'd be stupid for me to. It would seem so important if I did, because of my mom, but what about the kids and teens that no one would care? The kids that don't have families or friends, and they want to leave. They get no importance, so why should I take the importance that I can give to them?" He said silent for a few seconds.  
"Let's go take a walk around town. Leave your gun here, please." Cassie nodded and stood up, looking at Jon before leaving the apartment.

They walked around, and stayed quiet for a while. Cassie was standing really close to Jon, because she didn't want to get lost.

"Calm down, Kid. It's a small town, you won't get lost." Cassie silently nodded.  
"Jon, aren't you supposed to be in school?"  
"Aren't you supposed to be too?"  
"Yeah, I guess.."  
"Don't worry, I do this all the time."  
"Skip school?"  
"No, leave school. I go for a few minutes so they think I'm there, then I leave for an hour or so then go back. This time, you're coming with me."  
"What? No!"  
"It wasn't a question."  
"Jon, I'm not ready to go back yet.." He stared at me and stopped walking.  
"Let me tell you what will happen if you don't; you'll stay in your apartment for weeks, like you have been, you'll run out of money, you'll become way skinner than you are now, and you'll start doing drugs."  
"None of that will happen! I'm not going back to the school. I'll probably just drop out."  
"No, you won't. Here's something you didn't know, when Sami and I were training together with your mother as our trainer, she told us both to watch out for you, and make sure nothing happened to you."  
"Wh-Why would she tell you that?" He continued walking, but back to the apartment, and he dragged Cassie with him.

She was confused about so many things. Why did her mom want them to protect her? She was lost in her train of thought, that she didn't even realize they were already at the apartment.

"Yours or mine?" Jon walked up the concrete steps towards the towering home.  
"Depends on what you're going to tell me..."  
"Fine, we'll go to mine." Jon lead Cassie up to his apartment then stopped.  
"Y'know what? Why don't we go to yours instead?"  
"Okay..?"

Cassie slowly walked up to the apartment, and she had a horrible feeling about what would happen. As they made their way into the apartment, Cassie stayed quiet and sat on the floor against the wall, beaming her eyes at Jon.

How in the hell am I going to tell Cassie this? It's gonna' break her heart, I suppose.

Jon's thought were racing as he tried to figure out what to do. He nonchalantly sat on the floor across from Cassie and relaxed.

"So, why did you come here, Cas'?"  
"My mom got a job here.."  
"Didn't she have a job back where you were from?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then why did she need a new one?"  
"Why do you ask so many questions?" Cassie got up and walked to the kitchen to grab herself something to drink then sat back down.

"Okay, next question; Did your mom do drugs?"  
"What are you, a police officer? No, she didn't do drugs! I mean, occasionally when she was really stressed, she'd shoot up, but not often."  
"That's what you think."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I have proof of this, but I don't think your mom got in a car accident. I've been in enough drug situations to know what happens as a repercussion of not paying for your fix."  
"Are you saying my mom was a druggie?!"  
"That's what I'm sayin'."  
"She was not a druggie!" Tears were brimming Cassie's eyes as she listened to Jon explain his theory.

"Story time, kid."  
"Stop calling me kid.."  
"Shut up and listen. This was told to me by your mom. In England, after your dad was shot, she was so stressed-"  
"-She started doing drugs and alcohol, yeah I know." Jon glared at her.  
"Shut up. She abused drugs and alcohol until you were 14, right? Anyway, she moved here partially because of the job, but then again she needed her fix. Now, I know how the drug business works, and it's not pretty. If you can't pay for your habit, you get punished-"  
"Stop, Jon. I don't need to hear anymore."  
"-in the worst ways possible. She couldn't pay for any of her fix, she owes a lot." Jon stared directly at her.  
"You might need that gun." He got up and walked out of the apartment. 


End file.
